Maternity slip



April 5, 1960 Filed Jan. 27, 1956 D. L. RosENBERG y2,931,044

MATERNITY SLIP 2 Sheets-Sheet l [www: 4 pazgigz L. 30592258219,

y @Mm afowey April 5, 1960 D. L.. RosENBERG 2,931,044

MATERNITY SLIP Filed Jan. 2v, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent 2,931,044 MATERNITY sLrP David L. Rosenberg, Newton, Mass., assigner to Boston Royal Petticoat C0., Boston, Mass., a irm Application January 27,1956, seal No. 561,727

' s craims. (cl. 2-73) This invention relates to womens slips, and more particularly to slips for maternity wear. The present application is a continuation-in-part of my copending application Serial No. 300,850, filed July 25, 1952, and now abandoned.

The chief requirement of a maternity garment is that it be readily adjustable to allow for progressive enlargement at the waistline as needed,vpreferably without timeconsurning alterations involving ripping and resewing the seams. Slips of this type should also be designed to sell at a moderate price, as they are bought to wear for a limited time. A number of slips of various patterns have been devised for this purpose. One of the more common types is a garment which wraps around, overlapping in front or back and is tied together at the waistline with tapes. This type is comparatively expensive to manufacture, as extra material is required for the overlapping panels. Another type is made large enough for the maximum waistline requirements and held in at the Waistline by a drawstring. This type is unnecessarily bulky under the clothing, and does not lie flat in front or back.

The general object of this invention is to produce a slip which adjusts automatically as the Wearers waistline becomes enlarged, which tits smoothly over the bust and hangs smoothly throughout its entire length in front and back, and which can be inexpensively manufactured.

Another object is to provide a slip which hangs evenly at the hemline when the wearers abdomen is enlarged.

The slip here described is made of a single panel of material, with its side edges joined in a central seam at the rear. The front part of the garment hangs straight and the panel is cut somewhat longer in the front than in the back. At the top of ythe garment, under the arms the material is lapped over to form generally vertical pleats or darts which are sewn at to a point near the waistline, and the sides of the garment are shirred at the waistline, by means of horizontally disposed elastic threads.

Fig. l is a plan view ofthe flat panel from which the garment is formed;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary plan view, somewhat enlarged, of a modification of the panel;

' Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view, somewhat enlarged, of the inside of the upper side of a partly assembled slip made from the panel of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a front View of a completed slip;

Fig. 5 is a rear View of a completed slip;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary view, somewhat enlarged, of the inside of the upper side portion of a partly assembled slip made from the panel of Fig. 2;

Fig. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the inside of the side portion of a finished slip in the region of the waistline; and

Fig. 8 is a cross-section 'taken along line 8 8 of Fig. 7.

The panel 10, made preferably of woven material, is cut on an arc along the bottom edge 11, and the side edges 12 and 13 are cut radially with respect to edge 11 and slope to converge toward fthe top. A short distance above the waistline the side edges change their slope to become slip will stretch readily 'to tit the wearers waist.

' the center front.

l 2,931,044 Patented Apt. 5, 196,0V

more nearly, although not quite, parallel along the regions marked A. Top edge portions 14 and 15 are cut substantially straight and at right angles to the upper ends of edges 12 and 13, respectively. The central part of the top of the panel' is cut obliquelyalong edges 16, 17, 18 and 19 to form peaks 20 and 21. v The central portion 10a of the panel is disposed straight with respect to the Weave of `the material. The dotted'line 25 indicates the position of the waist line in the rn'shed garment and the curvature of edge 11 is such that dimension B, the length of the panel at the center from the waistline down, is somewhat longer than dimension C, the length of the side edges from the waistline down, preferably by about an inch.

In assembling the slip, the edges 12 and 13 are joined to form a rear seam 24, and darts 26 and 27 are sewn in portions 20 and 21 along the dotted lines marked 22 and 23 in Figs. l and 2. In one form of the slip, as shown in Fig. 3, the material is sewn together along the dotted lines marked 2S and 29, to form V-shaped darts 30 and 31 commencing at edges 14 and 15 and gradually decreasing in width to a point inthe region of the waistline. The garment is shirred at each side by means of elastic threads attached along horizontal parallel lines in the positions indicated by the dotted lines 32 and 33 in Fig. l. The manner of attaching these threads` is illustrated in detail in Figs. 7 and 8. Each of the elastic threads 34 and 35 is intertwined with an inelastic thread 36 or 37 which passes through ythe material of the garment. This type of stitching is done on the usual sewing machine, with the elastic thread fed under tension and the material stretched out hat. When the tension on the attached elastic thread is released the material becomes shirred, but can be readily stretched hat again. The ends of the elastic threads are anchored by means of small vertical darts 3S and 39 stitched across the ends of both rows of threads. As shown in Fig. 7, in the form of slip made from the panel of Fig. 1, the dart 3l) terminates just above the upper of the pair of elastic threads. It will be understood that arrangement of the darts and elastic threads is the same on both sides of the slip.

The finished slip, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5, may be trimmed around the top and bottom with bands 40 and 41 of lace or binding. The darts 30 and 31 are folded flat against the adjacent material of the garment and may be secured in place in any suitable manner, for example, by the stitching by which the band 40 is attached.

ln a modied form of the slip, the material in the underarm region is stitched together along the dotted lines 44, shown in Fig. 2, forming a ilat stitched pleat 45 as shown in Fig. 6, which opens a short distance above the upper of the pair of elastic cords. The pleat may be secured and held flat at the top by stitching attaching band 40 `to the garment.

In the linished slip, as indicated by the cross-hatching in Figs. 4 and 5, the weave of the material is disposed straight over the bust and down the central part of the front, and is disposed slightly on the bias at the sides and in the rear. The slip will thus hang straight over the wearers abdomen and will tend to t closely around the hips at the sides and back. As shown in Fig. 5, the hem line of the slip dips gradually from the center back to The extra length of the front portion compensates for the raising ofthe skirt due to the enlargement ofthe wearers abdomen, and the hem will thus hang evenly when the slip is worn by a pregnant woman.

The elastic threads at the sides of the waistline of the The slip remains flat across the central front and back portions of the waistline, and also tits smoothly around the upper edge and over the bust. The only gathers are at the sides of the waist where they are least conspicuous. The slip thus lits smoothly under the outer clothing and serves to mini- 3 f mize, rather than accentuate the distortion of the wearers ligure. i

The slip has only a single seam, the rear seam 24, which is preferably made as a dat stitched Frenchseam, .to prevent fraying of fthe material. This construction permits the slip to be manufactured at low cost and yet results in a neat and desirable garment. i The single panel from which theslip is made forms a garment with a bust-covering or bodice portion, which is the portion lying above the waist line region indicated by the dotted line 25, and a skirt portion which may be made any desired length ac cording to sizes, and current fashions.

What is claimed is: Y

l. A womans slip comprising: a generallytubular gar'- ment having a top margin, a bodice region, a Waistline region, and a skirt region, each of said regions having central front and rear portions and side portions, all said front and rear portions being smooth; elastic members disposed generally horizontally across the side portions only of the waistline region, said members being secured to the garment under tension and forming shirrings in the side portions of said Waistline region; and a pair of generally ver-V tical, flat, stitched folds, one disposed in each side pon-tion of the bodice region, said folds commencing at the top margin and being of ysubstantial depth at the top, and running down along the bodice region .with no increase in depth, and terminating adjacent said elastic members thereby creating fullness in the garment inthe regions in which said elastic members are disposed, said folds being of such depthat the top margin as to make said margin substantially smaller in circumference than is said waistline region when said members are stretched.

2. A Womans slip as described in claimI l, said folds comprising V-shaped darts decreasing evenly in depth from top to bottom and tapering to a point adjacent said elastic members.

3. A womans slipv as described in claiml, said folds comprising pleats of the same depth from top to bottom and being stitched part way down the bodice and released adjacent said elastic members.

4. A womans slip, comprising a single panel of sheet material having an arcuate bottom edge, a top edge, a central portion and end edges disposed substantially radially with respect to said bottom edge, a seam joining said end edges together to form a generally' tubular garment with said seam centrally disposed in the rear, the central portion of the panel forming the front of the garment, the garment having a bodice region, a waist line region and a skirt region, all with front, side, and rear portions, elas tic members secured generally horizontally to the side portions of said Waistline region, said members being secured under tension to form shirrings in the panel and being horizontally spaced apart to leave the garment smooth in the front and rear portions of the Waistline region, and a pair of at stitched, generally vertical folds, one disposed in each side portion of the bodice region, said folds commencing, and being of substantial depth at, said top edge and extending downward without increase in depth and terminating adjacent said members thereby creating fullness in the garment in the regions in which said elastic members are disposed, said fold being of such depth at the top margin as to make said margin substantially smaller in circumference than is said Waistline region when said members are stretched.

5. A womans slip as described in claim 4, composed of Woven material, the weave lying straight up and down in said central portion and bias with respect to said end edges.

6. A Womans slip as described in claim 4, the central 4 portion of said panel being `longer than said end edges from said Waistline region to said bottom edge.

7. A womans slip, comprising a single panel of sheet material having yan arcuate bottom edge, a top edge, a central portion and end edges disposed substantially radially with respect to said bottom edge, a seam joining said end edges together to form a generally tubular garment with said seam centrally disposed in the rear, the central portion of the panel forming the front of the garment, the garment having a bodice region, a waist line region and a skirt region, all with front, side, vand rear portions, a rst and a second pair of vertically spaced elastic threadsl having front and rear ends, each of said pairs of threads being secured horizontally to one of the side Vportions of said waist line region and under tension to form shirrings in the garment, said 'pairs of'threads being erally Vertical folds, one disposed in each side portion oflthe bodice region, said folds commencing, and being of substantial depth at, said top edge and extending downward without increase in depth and terminating adjacent said members thereby creating fullness in :the garment in the regions in which said threads are disposed, the garment being substantially larger in circumference in said waistline region, when said threads are stretched, than at said top edge.

8. A Womans slip comprising: a generally tubular garment having a tcp margin, a bodice region, a waistline region, and a stirt region, each of said regions having central front and rear portions, and side portions, all said front and rear portions being smooth, said garment being formed from a panel of substantially the same circumferential size at said topmargin as at said Waistline region; a rst and a second pair of vertically spaced elastic threads having front and rear ends, each of said pairs of threads being secured horizontally to one of the side portions of said waistline region and under tension to form shirrings in the garment, said pairs of threads being horizontally spaced apart to leave the garment smooth in the front and rear portions of the waistline region, vertical stitched darts traversing and securing the front and rear ends of said threads; and a pair of generally vertical, at, stitched folds, one disposed on each side portion of the bodice region, said folds commencing at the top margin and being of substantial depth at the top and running down along the bodice region with no increase in depth, and terminating adjacent said threads, said folds being of such depth at the top margin as to make said margin substantially smaller in circumference than is said waistline region when said threads are stretched.

References Cited in the file of this patent 1 UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,072,020 Barmen Feb. 23, 1937 2,458,062 Davenport Jan. 4, 1949 2,718,639 Blatt Sept. 27, 1955 2,722,011 Maines Nov. 1, 1955 2,757,380 Fox Aug. 7, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 532,190 Great Britain Jan. 20, 1941 OTHER REFERENCES The Good Housekeeping Needlecraft Encyclopedia, Rinehart and Co., N.Y., 1947, page 34, 

